Squad Car Wrecked, But Officer OK after Accident

By WYDaily Staff Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A 59-year-old Mattaponi man has been charged with reckless driving after hitting a stopped James City County police squad car.

According to James City Police spokesman Maj. Stephen Rubino, the crash happened Saturday just before 1 p.m. in the eastbound lanes of the 7700 block of Richmond Road, a divided four-lane section of highway near the popular Pumpkinville.

A few minutes earlier a James City police officer had stopped a vehicle for speeding in that block. Because the shoulder was too narrow to pull completely off the road, the speeding motorist had stopped in the right travel lane. The officer stopped behind him in a marked squad car with its emergency lights on.

While the officer was out of the car talking to the speeding motorist he'd stopped, a 2006 Chevy Silverado pickup truck traveling eastbound plowed into the parked squad. The force of the crash caused the squad car to spin and strike the vehicle the officer had stopped, causing minor damage to it. The police car suffered extensive damage and had to be towed from the scene.

Although the police officer was standing beside the car that was struck, he was not injured. No injuries were reported to either the driver of occupants of the other two vehicles.

The Silverado's driver told Virginia State Police who investigated the accident that, despite the sunny and clear conditions and the activated emergency lights, he did not see the stopped vehicles.